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Why is human labor required to make masks at all? You’d think it would be nearly fully automated by now. It looks like some woman sitting at some kind of giant
by iamleppert 5y ago
Why is human labor required to make masks at all? You’d think it would be nearly fully automated by now. It looks like some woman sitting at some kind of giant sewing machine.
China probably can produce the masks because they are masters of economies of scale. Sure, there are still sweatshops but anyone who has actually been inside a Chinese factory knows that is selling them short. Most Chinese factories are nearly completely automated and vastly more sophisticated than anything you’ll ever see in the US. They are obsessed with automation and continuously invest back into the business, preferring ways to increase per work output with technology.
I’d compare it to Amazon, which also makes me wonder why hasn’t Amazon gotten into all sorts of manufacturing by now?
- m3nu 5y agoThe machines to make masks are fairly cheap (100k or so, maybe less now) and with some tinkering they can be fully automated. Also gives more consistent quality. The expensive part is the non-woven base material. I’m not sure this would be available in the US or could be stored for long. Even in CN only a few firms make it and it was the main bottleneck during Covid. Source: worked closely with smaller CN companies to make masks and that’s what they shared with me over the previous 2 years.
- t8e56vd4ih 5y ago> non-woven base material what does that mean?
- m3nu 5y agoIt's a kind of artificial textile. For face masks it needs to be small enough to filter large droplets, but large enough for air. It also has an electric charge to bind very small particles to the fabric. So not your ordinary fabric.